Splash of Color: Painting Workshop
(in English and Spanish)
Dive into color together! Join us for a fun, hands-on acrylic painting class led by a talented local artist, where participants of all ages explore the magic of primary colors while bringing beautiful Koi fish to life on canvas. No experience needed — just curiosity and a love for creating! You'll learn how red, blue, and yellow mix to create the vibrant hues of a Koi pond. Every masterpiece goes home with you as a keepsake. Perfect for families, friends, couples, and solo creatives of all skill levels!
Date: Saturday, May 23rd
Time: 10:00am-1:00pm
Location: Education Center
Workshop Registration: JFGM Member $30| Non-member $45
Ana Maria Herrera
Artist Statement
My work is rooted in people in their stories, absences, and the objects they leave behind. Each piece I create is built from what has been forgotten or abandoned: fragments of wood, rusted metal, wires, and fabric that once had a life of their own. These materials become storytellers, carrying the invisible weight of human experience across borders, generations, and memories.
Collaboration is central to my practice. Many of my installations are born from encounters with communities on both sides of the U.S. Mexico border, fishermen, elders in nursing homes, street vendors, children, whose voices and reflections shape the work itself. Their words, often written or whispered, become part of the installation, transforming it into a collective portrait of resilience and connection.
Although the border is a recurring presence in my art, it is not the only one. Some works are inspired by stories from other regions of Mexico or even by literature from around the world. What ties them together is a shared sense of displacement, endurance, and the search for meaning within the everyday.
Through assemblage and mixed media, I seek to create spaces where fragility and strength coexist, where memory becomes visible, and the discarded is reborn as testimony. My art is an act of listening and of giving form to the silence of others, reminding us that behind every object, there is always a human story.
Declaración del artista
Mi trabajo tiene sus raíces en las personas, en sus historias, ausencias y los objetos que dejan atrás. Cada pieza que creo está construida a partir de lo que ha sido olvidado o abandonado: fragmentos de madera, metal oxidado, alambres y telas que alguna vez tuvieron vida propia. Estos materiales se convierten en narradores de historias que llevan el peso invisible de la experiencia humana a través de fronteras, generaciones y recuerdos.
La colaboración es fundamental para mi práctica. Muchas de mis instalaciones nacen de encuentros con comunidades de ambos lados de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México, pescadores ancianos en hogares de ancianos, vendedores ambulantes, niños, cuyas voces y reflexiones dan forma a la obra misma. Sus palabras, a menudo escritas o susurradas, se convierten en parte de la instalación, transformándola en un retrato colectivo de resiliencia y conexión.
Si bien la frontera es una presencia recurrente en mi arte, no es la única. Algunas obras están inspiradas en historias de otras regiones de México o incluso en literatura de todo el mundo. Lo que los une es una sensación compartida de desplazamiento, resistencia y búsqueda de significado en lo cotidiano.
A través del ensamblaje y los medios mixtos, busco crear espacios donde convivan la fragilidad y la fuerza, donde la memoria se haga visible y lo descartado renazca como testimonio. Mi arte es un acto de escuchar y dar forma al silencio de los demás, recordándonos que detrás de cada objeto siempre hay una historia humana.
Previous Class
Vitality and Transformation: Assemblage in Motion ( IN ENGLISH AND ESPANOL)
A creative and meditative workshop that celebrates transformation through assemblage. Participants will compose a mixed-media piece within a wooden frame - blending acrylics, natural materials, and found objects to express the cycle of renewal and resilience. This process invites participants to see the extraordinary within the ordinary, transforming fragments of nature and memory into harmonious visual poetry. This class will be offered in both English and Spanish.